For Immediate Release
April 29, 2008

TWO DAYS TO MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: SUNUNU SPINS THE IRAQ WAR

Sununu predicts troop reductions, yet troops increase

(Manchester, NH) - In February 2006, John E. Sununu was so eager to claim success in Iraq that he wrongly predicted that American troops would be reduced by the end of the year. In reality, the end of 2006 saw George W. Bush announce the need to increase troops.

"Sununu painted a deceptively rosy picture of the war when he wrongly predicted troop reductions by the end of 2006," said Alex Reese, press secretary for the NHDP's Coordinated Campaign. "His distortions mean he was either lying about the success of the war or misinformed to the point of negligence. New Hampshire needs a Senator who tells the truth and knows the facts, especially on the most important issue of war."

Sununu
Sununu Predicted Troop Reduction By the End of 2006. "Sununu was optimistic about Iraq, where sectarian violence threatens to push the country toward civil war. The United States will have a military presence in the country at least through 2007, he said. But based on three milestones - politics, economics and security - Sununu predicted troop reductions by the end of this year." [Concord Monitor, 2/23/06]

Reality
January 2007: Bush Announces Troop Surge - 20,000 More Troops Sent to Iraq. In a speech to the nation in January 2007, George Bush said: "America will change our strategy to help the Iraqis carry out their campaign to put down sectarian violence and bring security to the people of Baghdad. This will require increasing American force levels. So I've committed more than 20,000 additional American troops to Iraq." [President's Address to the Nation, 1/10/07]

Mission Accomplished
John E. Sununu has been one of the most steadfast supporters of George Bush's Iraq war ever since its beginning more than five years ago. On many occasions, Sununu has joined Bush in misrepresenting and greatly exaggerating progress in the war in order to deceive the American people into believing that we were near to success.

Thursday, May 1, marks the fifth anniversary of the most infamous instance of many such exaggerations and distortions: Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech on board the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in which he declared the end of combat missions in Iraq. This week is an opportunity to examine more than five years' worth of Sununu's deceptions, distortions and misrepresentations on the Iraq war.